Don't Bother None (Open)

"Oh, no... Come on, don't do this to me. Just hold out 'till we get to town. Please..."

These were the words that began to pour out of the biker's mouth when her motorcycle began to sputter and stall whilst cruising down the road. Slowly, the vehicle began to lose speed, as the sputtering was accompanied by the gnashing of jammed machinery. Shina sighed in exasperation as the bike came to a halt right in the middle of the road, letting out one last, feeble wheeze before falling silent. Grumbling under her breath, she gave the handlebars a twist in an attempt to rev it. Nothing.

"Well... Shit." Normally, she wasn't one for swearing. But considering that she was now stranded in the middle of the grasslands, miles away from Oshibana Town, one small s-bomb felt like a pretty good summation of her current situation. With no other real option, Shina walked her motorcycle off to the side of the road so she wasn't in anybody's way, then kicked out the stand and dismounted. Since she wasn't riding, the young girl proceeded to pull off her helmet, revealing a young face with large brown eyes, spoiled only by a bandage across the bridge of her nose. The removal of the helmet was followed by her unzipping her heavy leather jacket and shrugging it off.

"Alright. Let's see if we can't figure out what's wrong with you, hm?" She said aloud in a low mumble, as if she were a doctor about to examine a patient. Shina knelt down, her leather pants creaking, and peaked at the engine underneath the bike's black shell. She couldn't see anything that could've been the problem, which meant she'd probably have to break the cycle down and dig into its guts. "Shit..." She cursed again, rising to her feet and pulling her saddle bags off the tail of the bike.

Opening up one of the bags, the young biker pulled out a tan canvas roll and then set it down on the ground, letting it unravel. Inside were various tools; spanners, screwdrivers, pliers. Stuff for small-scale work. If the problem was anything more serious than some sort of obstruction in the inner workings, she wouldn't be able to deal with it using these tools. Pulling a socket wrench out of the canvas roll, Shina got to work on removing the shell covering most of the bike's machinery...

After what must have been hours of working on the bike, Shina still hadn't discovered the problem, let alone how to fix it. The sun was beginning to set, and here she was, stuck in on the side of the road with no camping gear or any real food. And Oshibana was at least another six hours or so on foot. If there was any way for this situation to get even worse, outside of her getting mauled by a pack of starving wolves, Shina couldn't see it. Suddenly, she jumped to her feet. "DAMMIT!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, delivering a sharp kick to the malfunctioning vehicle. There was a clatter of metal against metal as her steel-toed boot smashed into the bike's four-stroke engine, actually leaving a dent. She knew kicking it wasn't going to help. She wasn't an idiot. But she'd be lying if she said it didn't feel good on some basic level.

Letting out a growl of frustration, the girl threw her wrench to the ground and sat down with her back against the bike. With nothing better to do, Shina directed her eyes above as the sun slowly went over the horizon, turning the sky a fiery orange.

((Speaking of wolves...))

Wolfe couldn't see any shade in sight. He hated the heat, but right now his attention was on the girl swearing at her motorcycle. He smiled to himself, his back facing the horizon as he walked calmly toward the biker girl.

Hopefully this encounter is more interesting than the last few fights I've had. Still, she doesn't seem to be doing anything illegal so I suppose I can't use the pretense of being of the Magic Council to spark something. So, sparring practice it is then. From what I can tell, she looks like someone capable of speaking with her fists. Saves me time if I don't need to talk too much.

Wolfe stopped just short of Shina, his longcoat flowing in the breeze. He looked upon the girl silently. His magical aura was almost palpable as he stared at her, then let his eyes, or more accurately his one visible eye, wander over her bike. What an interesting piece of technology.

"... heh. Nice bike, though it doesn't seem to be working at the moment."

Wolfe turned his eye back to Shina, his thoughts and power masked by his obviously hostile intent. He wanted to fight this person. Badly. However, he didn't want to fight her for any stupid reason like revenge or because she was a target. No, he wanted to fight because she seemed strong. Strong opponents made Wolfe stronger if he defeated them and if he lost, well, that made him stronger in a way as well. He gripped the swords on his back. A moment later he let them go, and took up a regular boxing stance.

"Actually, you look strong. Let's fight on your terms first. We'll call it sparring."

The Wild Fang figured that would be enough of a provocation to get the girl to fight him. If she could guess what he was thinking while they battled he supposed he'd have to take this a lot more seriously, but for now he was just trying to have some fun. The girl looked like she could do with letting off some steam anyway. Maybe this fight would let her do just that. He waited for her favorable reply, though it wasn't a guarantee.

When Shina heard rustling in the brush beyond the road's shoulder, she didn't react. Or at least, she didn't seem to. In spite of the fact that the sound was definitely heading towards her, the brunette remained seated, not even going through her usual quiet and shy routine. Didn't even bother covering up the serial number branded onto her left forearm, as was her habit. She was simply too angry to bother with such things. Instead, Shina brought her eyes back down to earth, where they found themselves staring absently at a rather strange person.

He was a middle-aged man, or at least bore the physical characteristics that Shina noted were common amongst people considered to be as such. His hair was shaggy and black, like that of a wild animal, and the one eye she could see was red as blood. Combined with his dark clothing, the man struck her as dangerous. Possibly a mercenary, most likely some kind of outlaw. A thug either way, really. But that was her initial impression based on the way the man carried himself physically. For all she knew, he could be cuddlier than a stuffed toy underneath his dark appearance. Not that she'd care. She already didn't like dealing with people, and she most certainly didn't feel like gab with this guy when her day was already this shitty.

The dark man proceeded to comment on her motorcycle, noting aloud that it wasn't being cooperative. Shina rolled her eyes in a nonverbal way of saying, "No, really?! I never would've guessed if you hadn't told me!" She wondered if he liked to announce the weather to everybody on rainy days, regardless of it being self-evident. But that was probably just the frustration talking. Her large brown eyes narrowed when she noticed the man's hands going for the swords sheathed on his back. Heat and smoke began to emanate from her gloves as she waited for him to make a move.

What he did next left her somewhat confused, however. Instead of drawing his blades, the man brought his hands up in a traditional fighting stance. Shina wanted to say it was boxing. Then he said that she appeared to be strong, and insisted that they would fight on her "terms" first. The heat and smoke vanished, and the young girl could only tilt her head and raise an eyebrow at this supposed proposition. The expression could be read a multitude of ways, but the interpretation at the front of Shina's mind was something along the lines of, "What in God's green Earth is wrong with you?"

Shina honestly believed this guy had suffered blunt trauma to the head at some point in his life, because he was a whole new kind of weird than what she was used to. And she began her new life waking up in some strangers' bedroom feeling like she'd been used as a human tether-ball. So she was used to a fair share of things considered strange, odd, and just plain damn weird. But even she had to ask herself what kind of guy just waltzed up to somebody stranded on the side of the road and asks them to fight. She'd never met anybody who acted this way before. But the part that really had her scratching her head was that she was actually considering taking him up on it.

Sighing, Shina rose to her feet and began walking forward, away from her motorcycle, her pants jangling due to all the metal attachments. As she walked, she pulled on the hems of her gloves to ensure they were on tight. Once she reached a clearing a couple yards away from the road, she turned around to face the man, expecting him to follow.

Ah... she was giving him that look. The look of utter confusion. Did he do something weird again...? A bemused expression flitted across his face for a moment. Always nice to be reminded that on a planet full of other weirdos, mages, dragons and demons, he was usually the weirdest of the bunch,

Oh... right. Well, I suppose most people don't just go up to others and ask to fight them. Ah, well. The tradeoff is I get what I want if I just be myself. Normalcy is something I've never had and probably will never have. Nor ever need, in my opinion. Still, it wouldn't hurt to introdu-

The swordsman's thoughts were interrupted by the girl walking off then turning to face him. He smirked. Seemed like she was going to accept his proposal.

Perfect. Granted, she looks like she wants to kick my butt from her to next Sunday. However, she's willing to fight and that's all that matters. I wasn't lying to her... she's strong. The way she moves just in normal motion, her reaction when I asked for the fight, the matter of fact response that led me away from her bike. Still, I wonder if she's worried about someone stealing her bike while we fight... I'll have to keep an eye on it while we're fighting. If I end up having to focus on the fight, I can always call it off by bringing it up. Though, I suppose it would spoil the fun if someone did try to steal it. After all, that would take her attention away from battle.

Wolfe's took up his stance again, ready to begin the fight. He'd let her make the first move. It was almost always better to let your opponent show their hands first. Granted, she might know that as well, so he'd have to attack first, however he had a feeling she didn't want this to take too long. For the most part, Wolfe wanted it to seem like she didn't have much of a choice. He made himself appear a little more threatening to goad her into accepting his offer, but if she tried to get out of it he was prepared to make good on his request. Plus, he wanted to train himself to not have to always rely on his swords when fighting other mages. Especially if he wanted to fight any of the more powerful Council members. But, first things first...

"... rules?"

It was more a statement than a question, but Wolfe asked primarily because most fighters always seemed to be more comfortable fighting if they had some rules set down beforehand. The more cunning opponents always tried to make rules that favored them, but Wolfe wasn't necessarily going to listen. Especially if he opponent set down a stupid rule like, no using magic. The swordsman figured his newest opponent would be smart enough to take advantage of the opportunity but also understand that certain rules wouldn't be followed if the were laid out.

Earlier, she emitted some kind of heat? A fire mage...? No, it seems like it is something more than that. The change in temperature was definitely centered around her gloves. The ripples and the static electricity in the air all seemed to emanate from her hands. So, a holder mage possibly? With some type of fire magic variation? Concentrated into her gloves? Likely enough, I suppose though I can't possibly guess without her attacking first. If worst comes to worst I can always use my swords.

Wolfe's demeanor changed slightly. No longer laid-back and carefree, his entire being was focused on the coming fight. He stopped smiling and gazed at Shina with his visible eye. Most likely, she'd try going for his blind spot to end the fight quickly and get back to trying to fix her bike.

But if I was her, I wouldn't count on it.

The swordsman waited for the girl to call go. Then the real fun would begin.

If looks could kill, Shina's challenger would've been dead by now. The glare that the young girl directed at the man was uncharacteristically intense, burning even. She honestly wanted nothing to do with this ridiculousness. Random fights were not her idea of a good way to spend the night. But Shina couldn't shake the feeling that this guy would keep pestering her until he got what he wanted. He wanted a fight, so she might as well give him one and be done with it, much as she didn't like it. Wasn't that what life was all about, after all? Doing things that you didn't like in order to get to the parts that you actually enjoy?

Now he was asking for rules. Rules for what? The fight? How odd. From her experience, combat had no rules. All that mattered was victory. Just went to show that she still didn't understand people all that well. Sighing and rolling her eyes, Shina gave her response. "Only rules are that the fight ends when one of us is knocked out, and there's no crying if you lose." Her tone was flustered and annoyed, making it no secret that she wanted this over with quickly. For a few moments, she just stood there, her face like a blank slate of marble. Her eyes were emotionally dead, as they often were. She had resigned herself to the fight, and was mentally preparing for the next few minutes.

Then, without warning, the biker girl rushed at the man, her hands balled into fists. The metal plates on her gloves gleamed sinisterly in the light of the setting sun. She made no sound, other than that of grass crunching underneath the heels of her boots. As the distance between her and her opponent closed, the muscles in Shina's right arm tensed, and then she let loose a punch that was aimed directly at the man's sternum. She figured a strong enough strike to such a sensitive area would end the fight in a fast, if decidedly dirty manner. Or that it would at least take a lot of energy out of her opponent, especially since it would be steel striking bone. But there was always the chance that he would counter...

The swordsman had been prepared for a while for the fight to start. The girl taunted him in her frustration, making it clear she certainly hadn't expected to be challenged to a fight. Not that Wolfe was going to really fight her with all he had. Shina shot forward with decent enough speed, though Wolfe's visible eye easily tracked her attack. So, she wasn't faster than he was. Which was weird, since she had hardly made a sound when she'd attacked. Time to find out if she was at least as tough. He shifted his weigjht back and punched forward, meeting her gloved blow with his own counter-attack. She'd aimed at an area that would've done a decent amount of damage and possibly even impaired a normal person. However, for Wolfe, this was just a way to pass the time. He was occupying himself after his previous fight with a Dragon Slayer. Another good fight might take his mind off of things. As her glove collided with his hand, the pain shot through his arm and the swordsman grimaced. The strike had been fairly heavy as well, even though Wolfe had assumed it would've been lightly because of the lack of sound.

"Tch."

Wolfe stepped back, shaking his hand in annoyance. So, the girl was fairly strong. Adding to that he gloves were made of steel. While it hadn't broken his hand or anything even close to the sort, the pain was still there. He was doing this for fun, but if he ever wanted to fight this girl and win he'd probably need to rely on his natural speed. She could probably outfight him in terms of pure power. Still, the punch was a pretty dirty trick. Whatever he thought of her, he had to admit she knew her way around combat. He smiled as he brought his arm back up into a boxing position and took a big step back, once again leaving her punching range.

Ok, so now I know how fast and how strong she is. Time to find out what her magic can do... assuming she doesn't keep trying to end the fight in one attack. Re-evaluting the situation, maybe I should've just given her an ear to vent at. Words were never my strong suite though.

Wolfe cast his gaze back on the girl, his visage much softer and friendlier.

"Ow. That was an impressive punch, especially considering the lack of a tell... Where did you learn to fight like that?"

Wolfe's gaze darkened a bit as he gathered power inside of him. His couldn't use his magic without first channeling it through he swords. That was annoying, but for the time being it didn't matter. If the girl kept thinking she could end this with one strike, all he had to do was keep meeting that one strike. Her punch hand hurt, but even a thousand of attacks like the previous one and Wolfe could keep going. Nothing vital was hit and pain could be dealt with. He wasn't fighting to win, and if he did keep getting hit like that he would eventually lose, but it would take a while. The fastest way for Shina to end this fight wasn't by trying to knock Wolfe out and call it a day, but to humor the man and fight with all of her energy. After all, Wolfe's goal was to goad Shina into forgetting her anger by venting it all in the fight. He didn't ask her for the match planning to seriously try and hurt the girl. She seemed like she was having a bad enough day as it was.

People are always so complicated. They say the opposite of what they want, and do the things they hate the most. Even now, she looks like she'd rather be failing to fix her bike than enjoying a distraction.

Wolfe sighed and shook his head, re-focusing his gaze on Shina. What would she do next?

"Considering you can fight like that... that can't be all you've got, right?"

Shina sneered when Wolfe countered her punch, though even she had to admit that the fact that he did it by intercepting with a strike of his own surprised her. She didn't know many people willing to sacrifice their bodies like that. Jumping back a couple steps almost the same moment that her opponent did the same, the young amnesiac took a moment to analyze the situation a bit more in depth. Going by how this man carried himself, as well as how he reacted to her attack, he'd seen more than his fair share of combat. So he definitely knew what he was doing. He also seemed to be much faster than she herself was. That was going to prove a frustrating little hump she'd have to work her way over, she was sure. So her best bet was to play mind games with him, as opposed to relying purely on brute force. She could do mind games. Question was, could he?

Shina was brought out of her tactical assessment by the sound of her opponent's voice. Chatty one, wasn't he? Certainly more talkative than she intended to be. He complimented her on her punch, then asked where she had learned to fight. Shina simply glared, maintaining her rather loose stance all the while. Even if she had an answer for his question, she wouldn't have given it to him. But she genuinely didn't remember where she had learned to her fighting skills. Someone must have trained her at some point in the past, but it must've been before the accident that had claimed her memory. By some miracle, the basics of her training seemed to have stuck.

Flexing her hands, Shina rushed at Wolfe again, ready to strike at him again. As she ran towards her opponent, smoke began wafting up from her left hand, much like it had when the man had first approached her. However, when the distance between the two of them was closed, instead of striking out with that hand, Shina dropped low to the ground and went for a leg sweep. She figured it wouldn't hurt to attempt to trip him up before going for a stronger attack. But even if that attempt failed, her next action was to leap upwards in a flying uppercut, flames erupting from her gloved fist as it tried to collide with Wolfe's chin.

MP- 90/100

Spell: Crow Bite:

Wolfe took note of Shina's demeanor when he'd countered her punch. She was very much not happy. Very much not happy at all. He sighed, mentally, trying to remind himself that it was technically his fault for challenging her without an explanation. He was about to say something when Shina once again rushed him, her hand smoking. Wolfe frowned. That was a feint. But a very good one. He assumed that he was going to be hit by fire in some way. He couldn't tell where the real attack was going to come from.

Better avoid this completely. She's definitely someone who I'd have to be serious against in a real fight. I have to hold back here, though. Don't want to hurt her. After all, she seems angry enough.

Wolfe pulled reached back and pulled out one of his swords, pointing the blade forward. A gust of wind erupted from his general area and his sword vibrated fiercely as he vanished from sight. Shina's attack hit nothing but air, and as Wolfe appeared below her a fierce gale followed in his wake, threatening to push Shina back down into the ground. Wolfe twisted and stepped back, vanishing again and appearing a few more feet away his blade once again facing Shina wherever she landed. The swordsman smirked.

Now things are getting interesting. If nothing else, this can help me prolong the battle a bit. I need to hold out until she figures out I'm trying to get her to vent, at the very least. If I can't accomplish that, I might as well give up the fight.

Wolfe, with a single flourish, brought his blade into a more battle ready position, trying to gauge what Shina would do in the meantime. If she managed to land well, even after feeling the force of his zephyr-like wake, she'd most likely try to keep the pressure on him even with his speed now enhanced. If she was knocked off balance Wolfe had a feeling she'd probably try to hit him with an even bigger attack next time to make up for the lost opportunity. He hoped she noted that he hadn't even attempted to attack her with his sword, instead opting to play around and see how she dealt with him controlling the area to his advantage, manipulating the air while she was aloft.

"I have the strangest feeling that move has been used before somewhere. The fluidity of the movement... are you a dragon? No, that can't be right..."

While Wolfe was busy trying to figure out the combination of movements that would allow him to emulate something like that blazing uppercut he remained vigilant, watching for whatever clues Shina would give him as to her next move. As much as the girl seemed want to get this over quickly, she seemed fairly good at fighting herself. She should be enjoying this. After all, the only thing waiting for her afterward was an uncooperative bike.

The flames roared as Shina sailed up into the air, her fist swiping at nothing but empty space. The lack of any sort of impact, or even some kind of grunt, was enough to clue her in that she had missed. To be honest, she had sort of anticipated the leg sweep to not connect. That was pretty much the point of even attempting it; to distract this strange swordsman long enough for her to clock him with an uppercut. But somehow, with one or two swift movements on his part, that whole plan fell to shambles. Guy was an intelligent fighter, as well as a ballsy one. Even if fighting wasn't her favorite thing, Shina had to admire that rare combination of traits in a person.

Just as she was reaching the height of her jump and beginning to twirl in midair to recover from the whiff, she felt the wind begin to pick up. More than was natural for this time of year. But there was really no way for her to react to it. She was up in the air, no traction, nothing to grab onto. She'd effectively "hung herself to dry", as she once heard somebody say. The gale seemed to sweep up and then slam down directly onto her, almost deliberately, sending her falling to the ground. As she fell, Shina managed to tuck up into a ball, and then when she collided with the hard-packed earth, she rolled away from her opponent, if only to create some distance and prevent a followup on his part.

Coming out of the roll, she found herself on one knee, the fingers of both hands digging into the dirt while smoke and embers swirled into the air from her gloves. Cuts and scrapes covered her arms thanks to the rocks embedded in the earth, some of them bleeding, others little more than peeled skin. She has panting, her eyes pinned right on the swordsman a few feet away from her. She wanted to be angry. This guy was screwing with her. But at the same time, if he wasn't taking the fight seriously, then why the hell should she...? Maybe this was just his own weird way of helping her work out the frustration she was, admittedly, pretty much wearing on her sleeve.

The amnesiac girl rose to her feet with a sigh, all the leather she was wearing squeaking all the while. While she maintained a loose boxing stance, she seemed a little more at ease. Not having fun or anything. Just calmer than when she started out. When she heard the man speculating aloud about her uppercut attack, she couldn't help but smirk at his first guess of a dragon's involvement. "From what I've been told, the dragons disappeared a while ago. So what would they have to do with me?" Her voice was quiet, yet cheeky in tone. She was starting to ease up, now that her problems were at the back of her mind.

Shina shot forward again, as noiselessly as the last time. When she was close to her opponent, she went for a swift knee aimed directly at his gut. As her knee rose up to connect with the man's stomach, she continued speaking. "To answer your last question, I don't remember how I learned to fight."

((Sorry about the long wait. I've been stupidly busy. Still sort of am.))

Wolfe quirked his eyebrow wordlessly, surprised that the girl had decided to start talking now. He smiled gently at her rebuke. It made sense at least, since the dragons had disappeared. He was probably overthinking things. He appreciated her relaxed demeanor, and as she once again took up her stance he re-sheathed his swords. He was about to speak again when she shot forward, once again without making any sound and threw a hard knee into his gut. The attack connected and Wolfe stepped back with a painful grunt, but also a grin on his face.

"Ow... seriously. Ow! Geez, for someone who doesn't know how they learned to fight, you're damn good at it."

Wolfe drew in a breath and then spit out a little blood, and once again grinned at Shina.

"That was pretty impressive. I can see I was right about this. You're very strong. I'm Wolfe, by the way. Let's have some fun."

Shina's attack was slightly more painful than Wolfe had been expecting it to be. She wasn't as fast but it seemed she had a lot of experience hitting someone in just the right way. So it wasn't so much her power, but her delivery of the attack. He'd remember than when she made her next move. He was also a little interested in how she moved about without making noise. That was something you'd expect from an assassin. She didn't seem to have the demeanor of one though. She might've been a little riled up at the start but he noticed she warmed up considerably after she realized he was just passing the time.

"Sorry about the little ruse and provocation. You seemed like you could use a punching bag, and I'm not too good with words. Plus, I don't know anything about how to fix a bike."

Wolfe sank down a little, copying Shina's stance and then shot forward as silently as she had, throwing a quick combination of punches designed not to harm but to harry the girl. If he could get her to back up, he'd attempt to trip her with his own leg sweep and then move away and let her come back toward him. After all, this was a game to him. He'd help patch her up after the fight but for now, he was enjoying the moment.

"But for now, forget about all that. Let's fight as long as we can. Worry about life later! After all, some idiot did challenge you to a fight out of the blue."

The grin on Wolfe's face was not malicious. He was seriously trying to get Shina to have some fun. He didn't want there to be any hard feelings between the two, though he could understand why someone might want him to take a fight a bit more seriously. But, as he'd told his family many times before the war...

It's all about the journey, not the destination. After all, we'll all met a similar end anyway. Why not have some fun along the way?

He didn't say this out loud. Part of the fun of a fight was learning about an opponent through the clash itself. The swordsman didn't expect Shina to forgive him for his quirk of fighting her to make her feel better, but he figured as long as he didn't fight with any malice in his heart and tried to make sure she didn't get hurt too badly either everything would blow over eventually.